Some surgical procedures require a surgical instrument with an extremely sharp blade. In order to create very precise incisions in a tissue that is difficult to cut due to, e.g., the tissue's biological composition, it is important for a surgeon to have an instrument with an extremely sharp blade. For example, eye surgeons may need to cut a patient's cornea during various surgical procedures, e.g., a common cataract surgery. If a patient's cornea is not cut with an extremely sharp blade, then the force required to make an incision in the patient's cornea with a less than extremely sharp blade may cause the corneal surface to indent before the less than extremely sharp blade pierces the patient's cornea. The corneal surface indentation creates a non-uniform surgical incision which prevents the cornea tissue from healing in a natural position. Rather, the cornea tissue heals in an aspherical position with an imprecise optical surface, e.g., resulting in a corneal astigmatism.
Unfortunately, surgical instruments with extremely sharp blades present an inherent risk of injury to professionals involved in the packaging, shipping, handling, and use of the surgical instruments for surgical procedures. Although any sharp edge may be capable of causing injury if mishandled, extremely sharp blades can cause significant trauma with very little force. If a small amount of force applied to a conventional blade against a person's tissue may cause a superficial incision in the person's tissue, then the same small amount of force applied to an extremely sharp blade against the person's tissue may be capable of inflicting a deep and serious wound. Thus, there is a need for a surgical instrument with an extremely sharp blade that minimizes the risk of injury to individuals involved in the packaging, shipping, handling, and use of the surgical instrument for surgical procedures.
Although extremely sharp blades may facilitate a surgeon's ability to create precise, uniform surgical incisions, there is still a risk that an incision performed with an extremely sharp blade may heal improperly. For example, severed edges of tissue may heal unevenly unless sutures are used to hold the severed edges in a natural position. Unfortunately, suturing delicate tissue may pose additional risks to a patient. However, a surgeon may attempt a multi-plane incision to ensure that a surgical incision heals properly. A surgeon may perform a multi-plane incision by initially penetrating a tissue to a first depth with a blade oriented at a first angle relative to the tissue and then penetrating the tissue to a second depth with the blade oriented at a second angle relative to the tissue. A successful multi-plane incision increases the total surface area of the tissue severed by a surgical blade and also creates a surgical geometry in each side of the tissue severed by the surgical blade wherein two sides of the tissue may only be reunited and heal in a single position, i.e., a natural position.
Unfortunately, multi-plane surgical incision procedures are difficult for a surgeon to perform accurately. Additionally, it is difficult for a surgeon to repeat an accurate multi-plane incision with precision. Thus, there is a need for a surgical instrument with a surgical incision guide configured to allow surgeons to perform accurate and repeatable multi-plane surgical incisions.